First Week of 3D Computer Graphics: Theory and Application I

During our first class we were tasked with analyzing certain screenshots using some Elements of Art. These elements were: Line, Shapes, Space, Value, Color and Texture.

Developer: Warner Bros. Games Montréal   Publisher: Warner Bors. Interactive Entertainment   Release: 2013

Batman: Arkham Origins

The lines in this composition are mainly diagonal which creates a sense of movement, heroism and determination. To create these feelings, the camera’s perspective is slightly slanted and it’s also looking upwards at Batman.

The shapes mainly consist of man-made objects. The armor of Batman’s suit and the plane are examples of the man-made. But we also see some instances where the man-made and organic converge on one another, i.e. Batman’s suit. The skintight suit gets its form from the body of Batman, which makes it organic.

We have Batman and the plateau acting as the foreground, while the rocky background acts as the negative space. The plane created some discussion within the group since it can be considered as the middle ground.

The main focus of the image is to distinguish Batman from the background. This can be done by having a more diffuse background. Two hard edge lights are placed on either side of Batman as well to make him more prominent.

The color scheme is monochromatic but we also have some warm and cold colors from the edge lights.

The textures are a lot of man-made materials which meet more organics. The man-made are the plane, which as a rugged metallic texture with quite a high specular, creating the highlights from bounces lights, etc.

Batman’s suit has a smoother and diffuse texture with a low specular, creating the sense of his suit being made of a leather material.

Developer: Visceral Games     Publisher: Electronic Arts    Release: 2015

Battlefield Hardline

A lot of movement is suggested in the image using diagonal lines. This is really pushed forward by avoiding having the line of the horizon being horizontal.

The two characters riding down the zip line also pushes the notion of movement. The actual zip line is diagonal and the rotations of the two characters’ bodies are not symmetrical which gives us the sense of speed.

Shapes are mainly man-made with hard edges, but these are mostly in the background. In the foreground we have the organic shapes of the two characters.

Our two characters are in the foreground while the closer buildings and the helicopter act as the middle ground. The buildings beyond the point of the helicopter act as the negative space and background.

The values are used similar to the Batman image where the foreground is darker with a higher contrast than the background.

The colors in this image are probably meant to be discrete. Our eyes are supposed to be drawn to the two characters. While the character closest to the camera is easily seen thanks to his big shape, we have a problem noticing the character further away from the camera. But thanks to him carrying the big red bag, we can see him more easily.

The background consists of concrete and glass textures for the buildings. The characters are covered in fabrics.

Developer: DICE   Publisher: Electronic Arts   Release: 2016

Mirrors Edge 2

Even though this image is still, we still get a sense of action by having the perspective of the camera slanted. This might show that our character gets a calm moment in a hectic world.

The bigger portion of this composition consists of man-made structures with our only organic shape being the character.

The character is the foreground while the buildings behind her are the background. It could be argued that the building in the middle of the composition can be counted as the middleground.

The values are very high key with lots of whites.

This is a very “clean” image with mostly whites but with contrasts of black and blue hues. The red shoes and details of the characters give us a notion of that the character is on the move.

With such a clean image, we have few noticeable textures, apart from the fabrics of the character.

Developer: CD Projekt RED   Publisher: Atari, Inc.   Release: 2007

The Witcher

Even though this image clearly depicts a battle, we have mainly horizontal lines. This causes the image to be viewed as freeze framed which creates tension.

The shapes are entirely organic. Some structures can be viewed in the distance, but they look to have been built by organic material by hand. They are also badly burnt which removes the symmetry.

Our two characters are in the foreground while the rest of the field and objects are the background.

The whole picture has a fairly low contrast with the ground as a dark but bleak black and the sky as a white mist.

The colors of the objects are also bleak. Even the red waistband of one of the characters has a low contrast. The only thing that gives the orange hue

The textures can be described as “grime” and organic. Most of the objects are made from rock, dirt, wood and fabric.

3D Level Prototyping:

Our second assignment for the first week was to create a level prototype based on popular games and a keyword in Maya or 3ds Max. Marcus and I chose to create a Tibetan village from Uncharted 2 with the keyword “Solitude”.

We started off by gathering some reference material from the game to get an idea of how these villages looked. We then created objects and structures that could be seen from screenshots of the game. To get a “solitude” feeling we made some of the structures rugged and destroyed to get a feeling of that there is no one in the village anymore.

Our classmates thought that we did a good job and they could see what we were striving for. But the people who had not played the game were a bit unsure.

With a bit more time, we could have created more materials to get a more colorful environment which would look like a Tibetan village and the game even more. But all in all I think that this works as a great prototype to get a sense of scale!

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